World Wrapps   |   Li’keLi’ke Hawaiian BBQ Grill   |   Fresh City

 

Ahead of the Curve
By Sherri Daye

Why it Bears WatchingThe reason Shepherd and his team spent the last six to seven years focused on getting everything right before franchising is because they know they have a potential winner on their hands. Executed correctly, World Wrapps could be a major West Coast fast-casual competitor. Units are averaging $745,000 per store. Those in high-end retail centers even better ($1 million-plus, according to company literature.) Despite what some industry savants might say, wraps and fast-casuals are here to stay. And at the end of the day, no other fast-causal is doing wraps quite like World Wrapps.

According to World Wrapps lore, there would be no chicken wraps at KFC or Chick-fil-A if it weren’t for the quartet of San Francisco restaurateurs who started World Wrapps in 1995. As the story goes, soon after the group opened its first store, word of the eatery’s success reached the ears of foodies across the country, many of whom flocked to San Francisco to see firsthand what the buzz was all about. Versions of the World Wrapps wrap began popping everywhere, and the rest is restaurant history.

But let’s talk about World Wrapps future. Major changes are in the works for the 14-unit chain. As of 2003, it is now a franchise. And a new store prototype, which emphasizes the chain’s smoothies, is in development too.

Both are part of World Wrapps’ quest to reinvent itself as a more energetic and upbeat chain.

The chain’s menu is not the problem. Filled with international flavors like Thai chicken and Caribbean sole, World Wrapps’ menu is just the type of quality fare its target demographic–healthy conscience, upper—middle—class professionals, aged 25—49–are learning to expect from fast-casual. "We put items on the table that rival, and often beat, that of casual dining," boast World Wrapps COO Scott Shepherd. It is the chain’s image, he says, that needs work.

"Our concept has virtually looked the same over the past four to five years," he says. "We took a hard look at ourselves over the past 12 months and found that we’ve gotten a little too sophisticated." Too sophisticated, that is, for the mothers with young kids who make up a large part of World Wrapps customers.

Playing up the chain’s smoothies, which already account for 20 percent of World Wrapps sales, is one way the company plans to infuse energy into its stores. Another is to revamp its signature Bento Box meal to include a wider variety of its offerings. "We’ve shied away from the combo meal," says Shepherd, "to differentiate ourselves from traditional quick-service, but the Bento Box [a themed package of offerings] represents a good portion of our sales." Also in development? The chain’s ever-evolving kids’ meal.

A new corporate store featuring the chain’s new look is to open in Washington state in 2004. Already the chain has attracted several interested multi-unit operators, some thousands of miles away from World Wrapps’ home base in Seattle. "We would like to stay on the West Coast," says Shepherd, "because it’s really important to us that our franchisees are close. But if the right operator came along, we’d consider it."

 

Hawaiian-Style By Sherri Daye Why it Bears Watching Less than a year old, Li’keLi’ke is a young concept with potential that could use the touch of a savvy marketer. Its operations team, led by Chang, an 18-year foodservice veteran, has two parts of the equation down–organization and execution. But growing a concept requires the three-legged stool approach. Without that third leg, in this case marketing… In order to entice the middle-America crowds Chang says Li’keLi’ke needs, a makeover is in order. When asked who is viewed as Li’keLi’ke’s competition, Chang threw out names like Panda Express and Baja Fresh, places where you can not only get a meal, but also an experience. To become a success in the fast-casual game, it is not enough to merely serve a good meal or boast on your menu that you use premium brands like Starkist, Hormel, and Kraft. You have to do more, something Li’keLi’ke will surely learn as it reaches its first anniversary. If anything is in Li’keLi’ke Hawaiian BBQ Grill’s favor, it is the revival of America’s surf culture. In the last two years, the chick surfer flick Blue Crush made an estimated $40.1 million for Universal, MTV’s Surf Girls joined the primetime reality series mix, and Roxy, favored retailer to surf girls everywhere–genuine and faux–has become one of the most happening clothes brands out there. Surfing and all its accrutruments are hot again–including everything Polynesian. Step into any Old Navy if you don’t believe us. The prints on the sarongs and T-shirts, the wooden beaded flip flops…all redolent of the island, just like the menu of Li’keLi’ke Hawaiian. On the menu at Li’keLi’ke Hawaiian BBQ Grill are dishes not typically found on the mainland–and most definitely not at a mainland quick-serve. Scallops, tiger prawns, and Mahi Mahi? Grilled pork chops? Fried Spam and eggs? All are served up Hawaiian short order—style for under $7.50 at Li’keLi’ke. Order a mini entrée and pay less than $4.50. At either price, you get a real meal, complete with rice and macaroni salad. If Bobby Chang’s projections are correct, Li’keLi’ke’s two locations–one in Chino Hills, California, the other in Las Vegas–should sell approximately 100—225,000 of such meals. And who is the chain’s core market? Pacific Islanders, of course. But also Asians and African-Americans. Together, the three groups make up 65 percent of Li’keLi’ke’s business, says Chang, head of Li’keLi’ke. But it is mainstream America that he wants. The growing sophistication of every American’s palate means that the semi-exotic tastes of Li’keLi’ke have a real chance of becoming another eat-out option, especially since Asian, in all its forms, is getting hotter and hotter. And, as Chang put it, "Anything east of Chicago is dying for something different like this."

 

Fanatics for Freshness
By Sherri Daye

Why it Bears Watching A concept that works in all in three dayparts, avoids the veto factor, and earns roughly $550 per square foot per year. Does it get any better?

"Fresh," like "fast-casual," is one of those industry buzzwords that seems to be everywhere these days. And just like "fast-casual," what qualifies as fresh in quick-service is subjective. Is "fresh-grilled," as in heated on a grill the same thing as "fresh-grilled," as in cooked on a grill? No. Consumers know, and are willing to pay for, the difference. And that fact alone is the reason why New England’s Reinstein brothers (Larry and Bruce) are so confident that their five-year-old fast-casual concept, Fresh City, will be one day be a national success.

"People say to us all the time, ‘Wow, this is really where foodservice is going,’" says Fresh City CEO Larry Reinstein. "They tell us as long as we have the right franchisees and the right real estate, there is no reason why we shouldn’t grow into a national brand."

What’s got people excited about Fresh City is the uniqueness of its "fresh market" concept. Customers create their own meals by choosing from a variety of cooking, baking, and preparation stations. An average store serves up a mix of Asian noodle dishes, hot wrap sandwiches, soups, and salads, in addition to smoothies and desserts. All three dayparts are covered, thanks to the English breakfast sandwiches on the menu, and limited alcohol service is available at most locations.

McDonald’s jumped on the Fresh City bandwagon last summer. Since then six McDonald’s-licensed Fresh City locations have opened along the Massachusetts Turnpike. In early June 2003, concessions provider Sodexho signed on too. Look for the concept to begin popping up on the campuses of Northeastern universities soon.

However, Reinstein views such stores as merely brand-builders. If Fresh City is to truly grow, he say, it has to be through the magical combination of "the right franchisees and the right real estate." To that end, Reinstein and his brother Bruce have spent the last year recruiting a development team that knows how to find both.

"We decided if we really wanted to grow nationally," says Reinstein, "we couldn’t run all the restaurants ourselves. Ideally, we’d like to be 90 percent franchisee-owned."

But not just anybody can be part of that 90 percent. Reinstein has a very specific type of operator in mind. "We’re so picky," admits Reinstein. "We want someone who is willing to open a minimum of five stores, preferably 15 to 20."